Authorities note expanded use of illegal fireworks on Fourth

Keith Paul and Aaron Clemens

Wednesday, July 5, 2000 | 10:56 a.m.

The Las Vegas Valley's Fourth of July celebration remained mostly quiet, with the greatest excitement coming from the various organized fireworks displays and the countless other unorganized -- and illegal -- fireworks shows.

"We had a lot more use of illegal fireworks this year than in years past," Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said. "Our inspectors were confronted several times by irate citizens who were the most hostile we've ever seen."

One man even followed the fire inspector who confiscated his illegal stash and stole them from the inspector's car at another call. Metro Police arrested the man. Because of such incidents, next year city of Las Vegas fire inspectors may team up with Metro, Szymanski said.

"People would say that they spent good money, but they knew they were using illegal fireworks," Szymanski said. "We gave them the option of giving up their fireworks instead of getting a citation."

Illegal fireworks may have been the cause of a two-alarm fire about 10 p.m. Tuesday at a warehouse at the corner of Main Street and Utah Avenue.

The fire destroyed a storage area containing about 260 mattresses and caused the roof over a furniture store to collapse. About $250,000 worth of damage was done. Firefighters needed about 30 minutes to bring the blaze under control.

The fire is under investigation, but department paramedics saw fireworks being shot in the alley and people running as firefighters were arriving, Szymanski said.

But most area police departments reported relatively few problems other than traffic once the legal fireworks displays were over.

"It was surprisingly quiet as far as any kind of violence was concerned," North Las Vegas Police spokesman Lt. Chris Larotonda said. "We got quite a few illegal fireworks calls."

There were several traffic accidents, but no fatalities were reported.

In Henderson about 30,000 people packed Morrell Park for a fireworks show, but other than a few missing kids who were quickly found and reunited with their parents, there were no other reported problems, said Lt. Jim White of the Henderson Police.

Metro also reported a quiet night other than traffic, with an estimated 258,000 people in town for the long weekend. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported the tourists added an estimated $191.6 million in nongaming revenue to the area.

This year's holiday weekend was estimated to bring in more money and more tourists than last year, mostly because the Fourth of July fell on a Tuesday, meaning many people made it a four-day weekend, said Kevin Bagger, senior research analyst for the convention and visitors authority.

But even with all of those tourists, there were no major accidents reported on Interstate 15, Trooper Alan Davidson of the Nevada Highway Patrol said. The interstate -- the major throughway to California -- has been the scene of several major accidents this year.

While some fireworks are legal, the kind that fly in the sky and blow up are illegal, and there were plenty of those in the area keeping local fire companies busy.

Henderson was lucky not to have had any major fires Tuesday night, Deputy Fire Marshal J.T. O'Neal said. Fire officials confiscated large mortar fireworks, which shoot sparks up to 200 feet into the air. A fire on a balcony Tuesday night was believed to have been started by a bottle rocket, but it was put out quickly.

Henderson inspectors also confiscated several thousand dollars worth of fireworks, including skyrockets, bottle rockets and Roman candles, and issued more than a dozen misdemeanor citations for illegal fireworks possession.

Las Vegas officials say an increase in Fourth of July fires can be attributed to an increase of fireworks booths, from 120 in the city limits last year to 170 this year.

The county was quiet, said Clark County Fire Department spokesman Bob Leinbach. "We had a pretty slow night." He said he heard a lot of illegal fireworks in various neighborhoods, but there were no structure fires.

North Las Vegas also reported a quiet night, Deputy Fire Chief Dale Nisson said. "Our call volume was high, but it always is. We probably just had a few more brush or grass fires."

Neither North Las Vegas nor Clark County officials issued any citations.

Meanwhile, two Las Vegas companies agreed to pay $90,000 in fines to settle allegations that they imported banned fireworks, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Monday.

The commission had accused Red Rock Trading Co. Inc. and Blackjack Fireworks Inc. of importing about 730,000 banned fireworks devices between 1994 and 1999 for distribution in the United States.

Fireworks are banned if the commission considers them a danger to consumers, either by discharging unexpectedly or otherwise malfunctioning.

In agreeing to settle the charges, the companied denied the commission's allegations. The commission voted 2-1 to impose the penalty.